1.“Syracuse has more size at guard and on the wing than Providence. This will be a problem for Providence when it goes man-to-man. Syracuse’s guards and guys like C.J. Fair love to get in the lane.”

2.“Eddie Cooley is just getting all the pieces together for the first time this season. (Vincent) Council, (Kris) Dunn and (Sidiki) Johnson all missed significant time early in the season. I think Providence will get much better as the players all adjust to people being back.”

3.“Providence isn’t a good shooting team and you’ve got to make shots to beat Syracuse. If you don’t make a few shots, it just gets more and more difficult to attack that zone.”

Assistant's take: “Vincent Council’s a tough, physical guard. He can put it on the floor and get into the lane. He needs to shoot it better from the outside. He’s been hurt, but he’s a guy that Providence desperately needs.”

Providence starters

3-Kris Dunn, Fr., 6-3, 180, 5.8 ppg, 4.6 apg: A shoulder injury forced Dunn to miss the first nine games of the season. In his very first game, Dunn had 13 assists against Colgate, tying the school record for freshman assists.

32-Vincent Council: Council has played in just four games this season after injuring his leg in the Friars’ opener against NJIT. In his last two games, Council has averaged 13.5 points.

4-Josh Fortune, fr., 6-5, 195, 8.9 ppg, 3.6 rpg: Fortune has started all 14 games as a freshman for the Friars. He’s fourth on the team in scoring, second in assists and second in steals.

23-LaDontae Henton, So., 6-6, 215, 15.7 ppg, 8.2 rpg: Henton is one of the most underrated players in the Big East. He ranks 12th in the Big East in scoring and third in rebounding.

Bryce Cotton, the Friars leading scorer at 21.3 points per game, missed Providence’s game against Brown with a sore knee. He came off the bench in the Friars’ last game against DePaul and scored 20 points. He could start tonight. Sidiki Johnson, a 6-10 sophomore, transferred to Providence from Arizona and didn’t become eligible until the end of the first semester. He’s averaging 3.2 points and 6.2 rebounds in five games. Ted Bancroft, a 6-5 junior, sees about 14 minutes of playing time and has been essential in making up for Providence’s personnel losses.

Who's hot for SU

Brandon Triche followed up his season-high 25-point effort in Syracuse’s win over Rutgers last week with a 22-point showing in the Orange’s win over South Florida on Sunday. Triche missed all three of his 3-point attempts, but he was 8-for-10 inside the arc. He is now tied with George Hicker and Rick Jackson for 37th on SU’s all-time scoring list with 1,245 career points.

Stray fact

Providence has lost six games this season with four coming by three points or less. The Friars lost to UMass (77-75), Penn State (55-52 in OT), Boston College (71-68) and Brown (69-68). Providence has lost four in a row. Its last win came on Dec. 18 against Colgate.